1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to metal forming machines and particularly to those in which continuous lengths of metal strip or wire are fed between reciprocating slides which coact with each other with or without forming mandrels to form the metal into desired shapes.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The most familiar machines, for metal forming of the same nature as with the present machine, are four-slide machines. Typically, a four-slide machine has a single horizontal bed surface from which are mounted four camshafts parallel to the bed surface and forming a rectangle around it. The camshafts are joined by mitre gears to provide a continuous drive train rotating the camshafts in unison.
Four slides, arranged in two opposing pairs perpendicular to each other, are reciprocated horizontally on the bed surface by cams mounted on the respective camshafts. Continuous lengths of wire or metal strip are fed in a straight line parallel to the bed surface and to one pair of opposing slides. Thus the wire or strip passes into a common center toward which each of the four slides is reciprocated for forming operations.
While the more common four-slide machine has a horizontal bed, both inclined and vertical bed designs have been produced. A vertical bed arrangement has the desirable advantage that both formed pieces and waste drop readily into provided containers instead of accumulating on the work surface.
A wire forming machine has also been made having a first bed surface machined horizontal on a bed support and a second bed surface machined on a vertical side of the bed support, both bed surfaces extending along parallel axes. It is known to mount four tool supports facing a common center on this bed arrangement, however this is accomplished by mounting two of the tool supports "piggy-back" on the other two. This piggy-back mounting limits versatility and support strength. The piggy-back tool support ends up too far from the bed surface to maintain the rigidity necessary for forming heavier metal.